Her smile was pleasant as she took a sip of her drink, finishing her glass. "It's better to let people assume something about you, I've found," she said innocently. "It's much more fun to surprise them at a later date." It got him to come out with her, didn't it?

"I bet if you had the opportunity to cook them again, you'd do just fine. You could impress your recruits too." She finished the piece she was working on and set to work on making another plate for the dog, feeling him brush up against her foot. "Don't butter me up. It's easy to look over someone's shoulder. I could just as easily have had you overcook them." She picked up the bowl she'd given the mabari and filled it partway, setting it back in front of him.